Eighty jobs available as Bord na Mona's profits surge

IN the week Bord na Móna announced profits of €78.9m, the company is also seeking 80 workers as employment numbers begin to climb again.

The annual report for its financial year ending on March 31 last revealed that profits were up more than €50m from the previous 12-month period and average job numbers had increased from 1,297 to 1,361.

The former peat production giant, which now styles itself as a “climate solutions company” said its most recent financial performance is among the strongest in its 99-year history.

It has ended its founding core activity, turf harvesting, and instead focusses on renewable energy and waste management.

In Offaly alone, where it is estimated it employed about 1,000 people a few years ago, it has one wind farm up and running at Mountlucas, another close to completion at Cloncreen near Clonbullogue, and others being advanced in west Offaly.

As a State-owned entity, part of the surplus recorded by Bord na Móna is given to the exchequer with the remainder reinvested in the business to support future growth.

In the past financial year more than €250m was invested in renewable energy infrastructure which the company says is supporting the delivery of the State’s decarbonisation targets for 2030 and beyond.

Commenting on the results, Bord na Móna chief executive Tom Donnellan said: “These results are outstanding, showing strong growth and performance in every measure of financial health. The financial results are the result of the company’s investment in a sustainable business model based on delivering climate solutions across renewable energy, recycling, peatland rehabilitation and enabling sustainable businesses across Ireland”.

Mr Donnellan added: “We are filling new climate focused roles all the time. Just today we have nearly one hundred new roles open for people interested in taking positive action on climate, energy security and the big issues of our time.

“Our new climate solutions focus means we expect our employee base to grow beyond what it was as a fossil fuel company within this decade. These extremely positive results are proof of Bord na Móna charting its own exciting future, delivering for its people, the environment and the communities across Ireland.”

While numbers on the payroll are increasing, they are still far short of even the 2017 figure when Bord na Móna employed 1,998 people.

In that year, €87.6m was paid out in wages and salaries but the latest annual report discloses that the wage bill has dropped to €62.6m.

Redundancy payments have been significant during the company's downsizing, growing from €172,000 in 2015 to €41.4m by 2019.

In 2020, the last year when a redundancy payment total was included in the accounts, the costs were €26.3m.

Mr Donnellan said: “These results are even more remarkable given that our transformation began in 2019, when we were facing a very dim future as the world correctly moved away from fossil fuels. We have shown that it is possible to successfully transform a business into one which is proactively contributing to climate solutions.

“We will continue to leverage the opportunities in renewable energy, implementing best practices in onshore wind, solar and hydrogen development, while contributing positively to Ireland’s circular economy.

“We are confident that we have restored the company to a positive future through our leadership position in developing and delivering clean energy, carbon storage and resource recovery solutions”.

Bord na Móna won 30% of the available capacity in the recent carve-up of renewable energy contracts (the RESS1 auction) and aims to double its renewable generation capacity through the delivery of large-scale projects by 2030.

In May 2022 the company secured capacity contracts for two further large-scale renewable projects including one of the largest solar farms in the State representing a further investment of €270m.

These projects form part of Bord na Móna’s 10-year plan to invest more than €1.6bn in renewable energy infrastructure and generating assets to position the company as the country’s leading renewable energy business.

Its recycling arm already owns waste company AES and has bought a Wicklow concern, AWD.

The company is also rehabilitating vast tracts of its cutaway bog and its annual report for 2022 says 8,000ha has been completed as part of a 33,000ha four-year programme.

Bord na Móna says this is one of the biggest ever peatland rehabilitation programmes in the world and will secure a store of over 100m tonnes of carbon and help sequester millions more.

It says the scheme will transform extensive areas of land into areas of natural beauty, teeming with wildlife and building other natural capital in the form of cleaner air and water.

According to advertisements placed in the Tullamore Tribune and Midland Tribune, the company has the following vacancies in its renewable energy division - planning & programme manager, trading and supply manager, senior project manager (planning & environmental), project managers, development engineer, community liaison specialists, electrical maintenance engineer, maintenance manager, mechanical technicians, operations engineer, senior civil engineer, senior electrical engineer and mechanical maintenance technicians.

In recycling it is seeking a commercial strategy manager, customer services administrator, domestic credit controller, drivers, mechanics, fabrication and repair operative, supervisors, RCV and general operatives, machine operators, operations administrator and a sales representatives.

In finance it is recruiting a senior internal auditor, project finance analysts, corporate finance analyst and a commercial credit controller.

A surveyor will be appointed for peatland rehabilitation and a shift foreman in operations.

Bord na Móna also has posts to fill in human resources and is inviting applications for the position of legal service manager.

In spite of Bord na Móna's announcements, there remains considerable dismay at the impact of the company's shift from 'brown to green' and a former employee, Cllr Eamon Dooley, told a meeting of Offaly County Council recently that 80% of Bord na Mona workers who had been made redundant had lost their jobs in order to satisfy the decarbonisation programme. He said the enormous loss of jobs in Offaly has nowhere near been counterbalanced.

Cllr Dooley said he would love to know the exact figures of jobs created since the Just Transition programme began in 2018.

“I don't see any new jobs around my area in Ferbane. It's obvious that there's a lot of spin going on. I know a lot of people in my locality who are out of work because of the decarbonisation programme,” said the Fianna Fail councillor.

Bord na Móna will continue to manufacture peat briquettes in Derrinlough for a couple of years from existing stocks and while it still burns turf at its Edenderry Power station near Clonbullogue, it is transitioning to 100% biomass fuel.

The ESB has closed its two remaining peat-fired stations in Shannonbridge and Lanesboro.